Are there toys in New York?

Heading to New York this weekend, staying for a week. First time visit to NY, and I'm honestly not sure what to expect. What I can say is that I'm very excited.

The Lego store in Rockefeller Plaza is an obvious destination. As is Toys R Us on Times Square. I hope to find the latest modular set from Lego, I look forward to seeing the most recent G.I. Joe figures, and if possible the US releases of Masterpiece Transformers.
In addition, I have scouted a couple of comic book stores, and Japanese toy stores that could be interesting.
Of course, all of these toys I could get on the internet, but there is something special about seeing them in an actual store.

When it comes to the food, I'm equally excited, and we have located several restaurants worthy of a visit. I'll make sure to take a picture or two.

I'll be back with regular updates Thursday 4th. Enjoy your Easter.

Are you Playing Heart of the Swarm?

Starcraft 2 expansion Heart of the Swarm is out, and is awesome. Whether it's the single player campaign, or multiplayer, people are excited. And I naturally wonder if we'll see more Starcraft 2 action figures. HotS is a huge success so far, and is looking to be a far more balanced game than Wings of Liberty. But we obviously care more about the potential of toys than the actual game.

From Wings of Liberty we got four action figures: Jim Raynor, Zeratul, Tychus and the Queen of Blades. I see no reason we couldn't get a full line of action figures, even vehicles. It would definitely be all the rage among the millions of nerdballers all over the world - as well as among toy collectors.

Anyway, enjoy HotS! GLHF!

What about Playmobil's Future Planet? (part 1 of 2)

Well, what about it? Am I being unfair for neglecting this fantastic sub-line of these amazingly well-made toys?

Truth is... Yes. But then again, I don't collect Playmobil. Maybe I should, when I look at the quality of the sets. But as I've said before, I don't actually buy a lot of toys these days. It's limited to Lego Minifigures, the occasional Lego set, the MOTUCs (which I have an apparent love/hate relation to), and my summer splurges on big robots or sealed vintage G.I. Joe vehicles. I'm an enthusiast, yes. But I'm just not merely a toy collector. I have several other interests as well, some that even take precedence over the toy collecting.

So yes, sadly I have neglected Playmobil's Future Planet.
I instantly fell in love with this sub-line when I saw the sets in the shelves, but I didn't make the jump until I saw a set at a massive price reduction. This article is mostly thoughts, and pictures of the boxed set, I'll get to the opened product at a later point.

And you can make the jump into this article to read more.

How to make a Club Sandwich

It's a remarkable thing, how easy it is to impress people. Just give them what they want. People want a sandwich with chicken and bacon. Why not make just that? Everyone loves a good club sandwich, specially if it's well made, with home-made bread and other quality ingredients. While we're at it, why not make extra bacon on the side as well?

A club sandwich can disappoint. I mean, I could use bad chicken, I could switch out the tomatoes with eggplant. Or just use less/no bacon. But then I would do just that. Disappoint. I will not disappoint. I will make an awesome club sandwich, not just because I want to, but because it's in my power to do so. 

So hop on in for my example of how to deliver what is promised, and Mattel's example of how to absolutely disappoint (Yup, this is another "Recipes and ranting"). 

Dinner Suggestion: Chicken pot

This isn't as much a recipe, as it is a suggestion for what you can have for dinner. The reason for this is the endless ways you can tweak this dish.

Basically it's raw chicken rubbed with rosemary, along with some salt and pepper. I split the chicken into four pieces, two with thigh, and two with the breast parts. The chicken goes into the frying pan for a little while, and then into the casserole for at least 30 minutes. I also include onion, mushroom and cream. The sweet pepper is there for the color near the end. And that's it.

You don't have to use rosemary as your preferred herb. Feel free to use basil or oregano. Or how about spinach? Or mint? Curry is also an option. The mushroom is optional. How about artichokes or asparagus instead? The cream is optional. How about sour cream or yogurt instead? I used Brussels sprouts, and a simple salad as side dishes. You can add various side dishes like bread, rice, pasta, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes.

The main thing here is a relatively fresh, raw chicken. You can't really go wrong from there. It's easier than you think.

Remember to pour some water into the frying pan, and clear out the good taste that has accumulated. Everything goes into the casserole of course. 

Expectations

It's better to lower expectations, and blow people away - than it is to create a massive hype train that ultimately derails.